Sabres lose to Panthers in OT, second in row after 10-game winning streak

SUNRISE, Fla.-- Aleksander Barkov scored 2:26 into overtime to give the Florida Panthers a 3-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres at BB&T Center on Friday.

Barkov scored on Florida's first shot of overtime after taking a centering pass from Jonathan Huberdeau.
The two were reunited on a line for the first time this season in the second period.
WATCH: [All Sabres vs. Panthers highlights]
"One of the best in the League," Huberdeau said of Barkov. "I think he's such a good player. But we'll see what happens. It's for the team first, but of course it's always fun to play with a guy like that."

Sam Reinhart had a goal and an assist, and Jeff Skinner scored his 20th of the season for the Sabres (17-7-3), who had a 10-game winning streak end Thursday with a 5-4 loss at the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Linus Ullmark made 40 saves. He has not lost in regulation this season (5-0-2).
"I thought Linus played great for us," Skinner said. "It seemed we had a tough time getting into their end and sustaining the forecheck. We turned over a couple of pucks too many, and if you give that group over there too many chances, they're [going to] hurt you."
Jared McCann and Evgenii Dadonov scored for the Panthers (10-10-4), who won for the second time in six games (2-3-1). James Reimer, making his fourth consecutive start with Roberto Luongo sidelined by a knee injury, made 22 saves.
Dadonov tied it 2-2 with 8:04 left in the third period on the power play.

The Panthers are 2-1-1 halfway through an eight-game homestand, the two losses coming after they allowed goals late in the third period.
"It feels awesome, and of course what we've been through, especially in the homestand, we've been losing games in the last minute and it's tough like that," Barkov said. "But this game was huge for us."
Florida outshot Buffalo in each of the three periods for a 43-24 advantage.
"You've got to give their goalie credit," McCann said. "He played well. I feel like we were relentless and just kept pressure on them at all times."
The Panthers were 2-for-4 on the power play, making them 19-of-53 (35.8 percent) in November.
"At this point I don't want to say anything good about the power play," Barkov said. "Just keep going and do those things we've been told to and keep working on it. Of course it's going to win us a lot of games if we play the same way."
Skinner gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 10:55 of the first period when he took a pass from Reinhart on a 2-on-1, waited for Reimer to go to the ice and shot the puck over him. It was Skinner's 19th goal in his past 19 games; he and Rick Martin (1972-73) are the only Buffalo players to score 20 goals before December.

McCann made it 1-1 at 18:31 on the power play when he scored on a one-timer from the top of the right face-off circle. It was his third goal in four games.
Reinhart, who had two goals against Tampa Bay on Thursday, gave Buffalo a 2-1 lead on the power play at 2:41 of the second period when he knocked a bouncing puck in front of the net.
"I thought we sat back, maybe a little too much, and let them take it to us with speed," said Sabres forward Jack Eichel, who had two assists. "I thought our willingness to skate with them and make plays was a little down. Our feet weren't moving as much as we should have. Obviously, it was a back to back and an emotional game last night. It's a tough one."

They said it

"Teams know about the streak now. They see where we are in the standings, and we're going to get everybody's best game." -- Sabres coach Phil Housley
"It feels awesome. We've had a lot of bad luck here as of late, and to get that, [Barkov] has been a leader for us on and off the ice the whole year. To see him get one, it's awesome." -- Panthers center Jared McCann

Need to know

Huberdeau had two assists, becoming the first player in Panthers history with four consecutive multiassist games. ... Sabres defenseman Lawrence Pilut played 12:48 and was plus-1 in his NHL debut. ... Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe was scratched because of an upper-body injury sustained against Tampa Bay. He is day to day. ... Florida is 6-0-0 in its past six games against Buffalo. ... Barkov, who led Panthers skaters with 26:03 of ice time, scored his third NHL overtime goal.

What's next

Sabres: At the Nashville Predators on Monday (8 p.m. ET; SNE, SNP, FS-TN, MSG-B, NHL.TV)
Panthers: Host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; FS-F, SUN, NHL.TV)